Keywords: Coastal, remote, island communities, equality, healthcare
Justification:
Theme: Providing quality health care to those on the periphery of care in rural coastal and island communities.
There is an essential need to address the healthcare provision in coastal and island communities and access to primary and secondary care for acute and chronic conditions. These communities have particular health needs due to their combination of particular physical, social, cultural and economic geographies. Long and troublesome transportation, weather challenges, recruitment and retention of health personnel are some examples of issues in these geographical areas. In addition will the impact of climate change on weather patterns, rising sea levels and coastal erosion possibly leading to desertification and abandonment of some islands, to poverty and social deprivation, consequently affecting negatively major health determinants and healthcare provision.
Objective:
* To establish the issues coastal and island communities are currently facing.
* To gain knowledge of how the wide range of issues in different geographical contexts and how social, cultural, linguistic and other barriers being successfully addressed or not.
* To explore how community awareness and active engagement to their perceived health - enhance self-care, social support and collaboration.
Organisation:
Brief presentations will be made to present the diverse issues such as lack of facilities, staff, drinking water, drugs, equipment, transport and resources.
The audience will be divided into small groups, each of them guided by a moderator.
At the end, the outcomes will be summarised in a plenary session.
Participation:
Interactive participation of healthcare practitioners in practice especially those working in remote, coastal, and island communities ( GPs, Nurses, Social Workers, Policymakers).
Estimated number of participants: maximum 40.
Expected outcomes:
Knowledge of barriers that are needed to be addressed for equality in healthcare delivery in coastal and island communities and innovative solutions and community based responses.
Establishment of needs, resources and policy issues required to make changes happen.
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